Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in West Bank raid
Israeli forces besieged house in Aqraba town and shelled it, causing parts of building to collapse, mayor tells Anadolu
Israeli army forces killed a Palestinian in a military raid in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.
A ministry statement said that Abdulkarim Suleiman, 28, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Aqraba, south of Nablus.
Aqraba Mayor Salah Abu Shahada told Anadolu that Israeli forces raided the town’s Al-Dayriya area at dawn and surrounded a house where an entire family was inside, including the father, his children and his mother.
Israeli forces removed the family members from the house, while the father remained inside and refused to leave, prompting the army to bring in large military reinforcements and impose a tight cordon around the house, he said.
Israeli forces fired a shell at the house, causing parts of the building to collapse, Abu Shahada said.
Sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard in the area during the hours-long siege, he added.
Israeli forces later withdrew from the area around the house and informed the Palestinian side of Suleiman’s death and that his body was being withheld, according to the mayor.
In Tulkarem, Palestinian Red Crescent teams recovered the body of Asaad Maliha, a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip, from inside the headquarters of the Tulkarem Central Zakat Committee after an Israeli raid on the building.
Local sources told Anadolu that Israeli forces stormed the premises in the Irtah suburb south of Tulkarem, forced out Palestinians from Gaza who had been staying there since October 2023, arrested several residents and damaged the building’s contents.
During the raid, Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas at journalists covering the incident and chased them around the area.
In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces demolished 10 homes, sheep barns, water sources and solar-energy units in Khirbet al-Fakhit in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, local council head Nidal Younis told Anadolu.
“The demolitions targeted everything needed for daily life in the northern part of the village, including water tanks, sanitation units, solar panels and a water well,” Younis said.
He said Israeli forces did not give families enough time to remove their belongings, including food, before carrying out the demolitions.
Several Palestinians suffered from tear-gas inhalation during the raid, he continued.
Younis said the demolitions are part of an Israeli policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians from Masafer Yatta, adding that Khirbet al-Fakhit is the second village in the area to face a wide demolition campaign in one week.
Separately in Burqa, northwest of Nablus, Deputy Village Council head Mahmoud Shabib said Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinians with sticks and clubs Monday evening and tried to set fire to six vehicles.
Shabib said Palestinians managed to save five vehicles, while a sixth was damaged. He added that Israeli soldiers arrived in the area and assaulted several Palestinians.
“Around 6,000 Palestinians in Burqa are facing a water crisis, with supplies reaching some neighborhoods only once every 15 to 20 days,” he said.
The occupied West Bank has been witnessing a continued Israeli military escalation, including raids, arrests and demolitions, alongside rising occupier attacks since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
